The outside screen looks like an old Windows Phone, but the inside is Windows 10.
One of the most popular mobile devices is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. How do you improve on a top-of-the-line foldable? Of course, turn it into a Windows Phone. Mark Spurrell did the same thing with his Galaxy Z Fold 4 on YouTube.
Now, as you probably guessed, Spurrell didn’t hack Windows Phone onto a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Instead, the device runs a launcher that is very different from Android. In fact, he uses two launchers so that the look is complete. Outside screen uses Square Home, makes an interface that looks like Metro. Win-X Launcher is used by the larger folding display.
If you don’t have a foldable phone, you might not know that you can’t use two different launchers on them. With a Bixby Routine, Spurrell was able to get around this problem.
When everything is done, it looks better than you might think. The outside screen looks like a Windows Phone 8.1 device, with the Metro theme and all. The icons remind me of when I had a Windows Phone, and there are even features that are like Live Tiles. Spurrell shows off the power of Square Home launcher, which lets you swipe on an icon to do something like open the camera app.
The final modified Galaxy Z Fold 4 looked like a Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 device. The smartphone has a working Start menu, taskbar, desktop icons, full alerts and quick settings panel like Windows 11, a fully working calendar, and more. Swiping an icon opens the camera app.
Spurrell said that while both launchers perform well, moving between them isn’t ideal. He believes the performance isn’t as buggy as he thought, and overall it impresses him.
Spurrell’s video explains how he converted his Z Fold 4 into a Windows smartphone: